When I was fifteen, I announced to my English class that I was going to write my own books. Half the students smiled , and even worse, the rest nearly fell out of their chairs laughing. “Don’t be . Only geniuses can become writers.” the English teacher said, “And you are getting a D this term.” I was so that I burst into tears. That night I wrote a short poem about broken dreams and mailed it to the newspaper. To my , they published it and sent me two dollars. I was a published and paid writer. I showed my teacher and fellow students. They laughed, “Just plain dumb luck,” the teacher said. I tasted ; I’d sold the first thing I’d ever written. That was more than any of them had done and if it was just dumb luck, that was fine with me.
During the next two years, I sold dozens of poems and letters. By the time I graduated from high school, I had scrapbooks (剪贴簿) with my published works. I never my writing to my teachers, friends or my family again because they were dream .
I had four children at the time. While the children slept, I typed on my ancient typewriter. I wrote what I felt. It took nine months. I chose a and mailed it. A month later I received a contract, an advance on payments, and a request to start another book. Crying Wind, which became a best seller, was translated into fifteen languages and sold worldwide. My first book also became required in native American schools in Canada.
In the year I ever had as a writer I earned two dollars. In my best year I earned 36,000 dollars. People ask what college I , what degrees I have and what qualifications I have to be a writer. The answer is: “None.” I just write. I’m not a genius. I use an electric typewriter that I paid a hundred and twenty nine dollars for six years ago. I do all the housework and fit my writing in a few minutes here and there. I’ve written eight books. To all those who dream of writing, I’m shouting at you: “Yes, you can. Don’t listen to them.” I don’t write right but I’ve succeeded. Writing is ; it’s fun and anyone can do it. Of course, a little dumb luck doesn’t hurt.
| 小题1: | | A．unkindly | B．happily | C．willingly | D．crazily |
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| 小题2: | | A．curious | B．depressed | C．excited | D．silly |
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| 小题3: | | A．unlucky | B．ashamed | C．moved | D．unconfident |
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| 小题4: | | A．sad | B．innocent | C．disappointing | D．puzzling |
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| 小题5: | | A．puzzlement | B．expectation | C．astonishment | D．disappointment |
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| 小题6: | | A．coldness | B．failure | C．success | D．prejudice |
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| 小题7: | | A．furnished | B．linked | C．combined | D．filled |
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| 小题8: | | A．remembered | B．concluded | C．described | D．mentioned |
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| 小题9: | | A．killers | B．makers | C．designers | D．creators |
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| 小题10: | | A．writer | B．reporter | C．publisher | D．manager |
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| 小题11: | | A．working on | B．going on | C．turning on | D．putting on |
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| 小题12: | | A．writing | B．reading | C．selling | D．buying |
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| 小题13: | | A．busiest | B．unluckiest | C．worst | D．highest |
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| 小题14: | | A．worked | B．attended | C．admitted | D．participated |
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| 小题15: | | A．easy | B．hard | C．convenient | D．practical |
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小题1:A
小题2:D
小题3:B
小题4:A
小题5:C
小题6:C
小题7:D
小题8:D
小题9:A
小题10:C
小题11:A
小题12:B
小题13:C
小题14:B
小题15:A |
试题分析：文章讲述了当作者十五岁时，他向班里宣布要写书。这让老师和同学感到意外，并得到了同学的耻笑。在作者收到稿酬时，老师和同学仍然不以为然，作者下定决心，不会再告诉老师和同学有关自己的梦想的事情。作者选择了坚持自己的梦想。
小题1:考查副词词义和上下文辨析。A. unkindly不友好的，B. happily快乐地，C. willingly愿意地，D. crazily发疯地，这里指那些冷淡的嘲笑我的学生，选A
小题2:考查形容词和上下文辨析。A. curious好奇的，B. depressed压抑的，C. excited兴奋的，D. silly愚蠢的，剩下的学生都嘲笑我：别傻了，只有天才才能成为作家。选D
小题3:考查形容词和上下文辨析。A. unlucky不幸运的，B. ashamed羞愧的，C. moved感动的，D. unconfident不自信的， 由上文老师说我得了“D”可知，这里应指我很羞愧的哭了。故选B
小题4:考查形容词和上下文辨析。A. sad悲伤的，B. innocent无辜的，C disappointing失望的，D. puzzling令人困惑的，由上下文可知，老师和同学都不赞同我，甚至嘲笑我。 我的梦想破灭了。所以这里应指：我写了一首很悲伤的诗。故选A
小题5:考查名词和上下文辨析。A. puzzlement困惑，B. expectation期待，C. astonishment惊讶，D. disappointment失望，根据上下文可知，这里指我没有料到我的诗会发表。所以这里应是惊讶的。故选C
小题6:考查名词和上下文辨析。A. coldness冷淡，B. failure失败，C. success成功，D. prejudice歧视，从下文，I’d sold the first thing I’d ever written.可知作者品尝到成功的滋味，选C
小题7:考查动词和上下文辨析。A. furnished装饰，B. linked连接，C. combined结合，D. filled填满，到我高中毕业的时候为止，我的剪贴薄上充满了出版的作品。Be filled with“填满”，选D
小题8:考查动词和上下文辨析。A. remembered记得，B. concluded总结，C. described描述，D. mentioned提到，根据上文老师和同学对我的不认同和嘲笑，这里应指我再也没向他们提起过我写诗。故选D
小题9:考查名词和上下文辨析。A. killers***手，B. makers制造者，C. designers设计者，D. creators创造者，因为老师和同学嘲笑作者的梦想，作者认为他们会扼***人的梦想，选A
小题10:考查名词和上下文辨析。A. writer作家，B. reporter记者，C. publisher出版商，D. manager经理，从下文的：A month later I received a contract, an advance on payments,可知作者选择了一个出版商，将自己的作品寄给了他，选C
小题11:考查动词短语和上下文辨析。A. working on从事，B. going on进行，C. turning on打开，D. putting on穿上，播放，几个月后，我收到一份合同，预支的费用和请求我开始写另外一本书。选A
小题12:考查动名词和上下文辨析。A. writing写，B. reading阅读，C. selling卖，D. buying买，我的第一本书也成为加拿大美国学校中学生必须阅读的材料。选B
小题13:考查形容词和上下文辨析。A. busiest最忙的，B. unluckiest最不幸的，C. worst最糟糕的，D. highest最高的，从下文的：I ever had as a writer I earned two dollars. In my best year I earned 36,000 dollars.可知这是最糟糕的时候，选C
小题14:考查动词和上下文辨析。A. worked工作，B. attended参加，C. admitted承认，D. participated参加，Attned college 上大学，这里指人们问我上了哪所大学。选B
小题15:考查形容词和上下文辨析。A. easy容易的，B. hard困难的，C. convenient方便的，D. practical实际的，写作很容易，任何人都可以做。选A |
核心考点
试题【When I was fifteen, I announced to my English class that I was going to write my】；主要考察你对
题材分类等知识点的理解。
[详细]举一反三
One year our family decided to have a special celebration of Mother’s Day, as a token of appreciations for all the sacrifices that Mother had made for us. After breakfast we had arranged, as a surprise, to hire a car and take her for a beautiful drive in the country. Mother was rarely able to have a treat like that, because she was busy in the house nearly all the time.
But on the very morning of the day, we changed the plan a little, because it occurred to Father that it would be even better to take Mother fishing. As the car was hired and paid for, we might as well use it to drive up into the hills where the streams are. As Father said, if you just go driving without object, you have a sense of aimlessness, but if you are going to fish there is a definite purpose that heightens the enjoyment.
So we all felt it would be nicer for Mother to have a definite purpose . Father had just got a fishing rod the day before, which he said mother could use if she wanted to. Only Mother said she would much rather watch him fish than try to fish herself.
So we got her to make up a sandwich lunch in case we got hungry, though we were to come home again to a big festive dinner.
Well, when the car came to the door, it turned out that there was not as much space in it as we had supposed. It was plain that we couldn’t all get in.
Father said that he could just stay home and put in the time working in the garden. He said that there was a lot of rough dirty work that he could do, like digging a trench for the garbage, which would save hiring a man, and so he said that he’d stay home; he said that we were not to let the fact that he had not had a real holiday for three years stand in our way. He wanted us to go right ahead and not to mind him.
But of course we all felt that it would never do to let Father stay home, especially as we knew he would make trouble if he did. The two girls, Anne and Mary, would have stayed and helped the maid get dinner, only it seemed such a pity,for the two girls were eager to show their new hats on a lovely day like this. But they said that Mother had only to say the word and they’d gladly stay home and work. Will and I would have dropped out, but unfortunately we wouldn’t have been any use in preparing the dinner.
小题1:The author’s family decided to celebrate Mother’s Day specially to _______.| A．show love for their mother | | B．show gratitude to their mother | | C．show respect for their mother | | D．to make up for a previous appointment |
小题2:According to Paragraph 2, we know that the plan was changed because________.| A．Father proposed to go fishing out | | B．we thought that driving out is boring | | C．we failed to hire a car to go out | | D．the car was not big enough |
小题3:What problem did we find when the car arrived?| A．The car was too old to drive on mountain roads. | | B．The car was larger than we expected. | | C．The car was too small to accommodate us all. | | D．The car was too plain looking. |
小题4:Why didn’t the author drop out of the activity?| A．Because his sisters didn’t join in. | | B．Because he needed to have dinner. | | C．Because he couldn’t cook the dinner. | | D．Because he hadn’t had a real holiday for three years. |
小题5:Which of the following proverbs describes the text best?| A．Everything comes to him who waits. | | B．Changes always go beyond plans. | | C．Better late than never. | | D．Once on shore, one prays no more. |
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Whenever you want to make a decision, just make sure to think twice and confirm it. This is what we learn from the following story. While two old beggars were sitting on a street corner, they watched helplessly as scores of people walked by. Some purposely them and others too caught up in their own cares didn’t even notice their . Every so often, a kind-hearted woman or a small child would drop a few coins in the which lay in front of them.
As the crowd began to die down, they started to their things and head for their evening . Just as they were getting ready to leave, they noticed a man walking toward them. He was obviously a man—they could tell that from his finely tailored business suit.
The first beggar whispered to the second with , “He’s coming our way!”
The two tried not to look at the man as he stepped closer to them, but they couldn’t gazing up with anticipation he reached into his pocket and took something out.
“Thunk” was the only sound they heard as what looked like a piece of hard , wrapped in tissue paper hit each of their waiting hats. The rich man and continued on his way, not making a backward glance.
“How insulting(侮辱人的)!” said the first beggar. “He could have left us a few coins or a spare bill, but he mocks us with a piece of rock candy. Who does he think we are? ? There’s no way we can even eat this—we have no .” He picked up the object and threw it into the gutter.
“I haven’t had anything like this for ages,” the second beggar thought. “I can’t chew it, but I can suck on it , and the sugary juices will stay in my for a long time. How nice of that man to offer me something so sweet！”
With that, he the white tissue paper, but to his , there was no hard rock candy inside. However, into his fingers fell a shiny white pearl worth thousands of dollars.
| 小题1: | | A．distant | B．busy | C．broad | D．narrow |
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| 小题2: | | A．aided | B．observed | C．noticed | D．ignored |
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| 小题3: | | A．existence | B．situation | C．appearance | D．expression |
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| 小题4: | | A．hats | B．hands | C．pockets | D．bowls |
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| 小题5: | | A．put up | B．cover up | C．pack up | D．end up |
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| 小题6: | | A．party | B．flat | C．shelter | D．shadow |
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| 小题7: | | A．wealthy | B．healthy | C．poor | D．proud |
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| 小题8: | | A．confusion | B．happiness | C．excitement | D．amusement |
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| 小题9: | | A．carelessly | B．calmly | C．sadly | D．directly |
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| 小题10: | | A．help | B．escape | C．wait | D．prevent |
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| 小题12: | | A．cake | B．candy | C．coin | D．bill |
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| 小题13: | | A．quit | B．declined | C．turned | D．returned |
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| 小题14: | | A．easily | B．hardly | C．suddenly | D．finally |
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| 小题15: | | A．Babies | B．Children | C．Adults | D．Old men |
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| 小题16: | | A．hands | B．teeth | C．bowls | D．money |
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| 小题17: | | A．in a while | B．for a while | C．after a while | D．once in a while |
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| 小题18: | | A．pocket | B．hand | C．mouth | D．hat |
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| 小题19: | | A．threw | B．undertook | C．unfolded | D．wrapped |
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| 小题20: | | A．satisfaction | B．amazement | C．horror | D．disappointment |
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Several years ago, while attending a communication course, I experienced a most unusual process. The instructor asked us to list in our past that we felt of, regretted, or incomplete about and read our lists aloud.
This seemed like a very 38 process, but there’ s always some soul in the crowd who will volunteer. The instructor then that we find ways to people, or take some action to right any wrong doings. I was seriously wondering how this could ever my communication.
Then the man next to me raised his hand and volunteered this story: “Making my , I remembered an incident from high school. I grew up in a small town. There was a Sheriff of us kids liked. One night, my two buddies and I decided to play a on him.
After drinking a few beers, we climbed the tall water tank in the middle of the town, and wrote on the tank in bright red paint: Sheriff Brown is a s.o.b.(畜生). The next day, almost the whole town saw our glorious . Within two hours, Sheriff Brown had us in his office. My friends told the truth but I lied. No one found out.”
“Nearly 20 years later, Sheriff Brown’s name on my list. I didn’t even know if he was still . Last weekend, I dialed the information in my hometown and found there was a Roger Brown still listed. I tried his number. After a few , I heard, “Hello?” I said, “Sheriff Brown?” Paused. “Yes.” “Well, this is Jimmy Calkins.”
“And I want you to know that I did it.” Paused. “I knew it!” he yelled back. We had a good laugh and a discussion. His closing words were: “Jimmy, I always felt bad for you your buddies got it off their chest, but you were carrying it all these years. I want to thank you for calling me...for your sake.”
Jimmy inspired me to all 101 items on my list within two years, and I always remember what I learned from the course: It’s never too late to the past wrongdoings.
| 小题1: | | A．something | B．anything | C．somebody | D．anybody |
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| 小题2: | | A．ashamed | B．afraid | C．sure | D．proud |
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| 小题3: | | A．private | B．secret | C．interesting | D．funny |
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| 小题4: | | A．foolish | B．polite | C．simple | D．brave |
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| 小题5: | | A．expected | B．suggested | C．ordered | D．demanded |
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| 小题6: | | A．connect with | B．depend on | C．make apologise to | D．get along with |
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| 小题7: | | A．improve | B．continue | C．realize | D．keep |
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| 小题8: | | A．notes | B．list | C．plan | D．stories |
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| 小题10: | | A．part | B．game | C．trick | D．record |
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| 小题11: | | A．view | B．sign | C．attention | D．remark |
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| 小题12: | | A．also | B．even | C．still | D．ever |
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| 小题13: | | A．appears | B．considers | C．presents | D．remembers |
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| 小题14: | | A．angry | B．happy | C．doubtful | D．alive |
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| 小题15: | | A．words | B．rings | C．repeats | D．calls |
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| 小题16: | | A．cold | B．plain | C．nervous | D．lively |
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| 小题17: | | A．in case | B．so long as | C．unless | D．because |
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| 小题19: | | A．build up | B．make up | C．clear up | D．give up |
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| 小题20: | | A．regret | B．forgive | C．right | D．punish |
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I was very sympathetic with world leaders burdened with resolving conflicts between nations. When my three children were young, in most days it was hard to keep my house from becoming a war zone. It got worse as they grew older. Three years ago, Zack, then 16, couldn’t make it through a day without playing tricks on his sisters, Alex and Taryn, then 11 and 9.
My husband and I tried to understand his adolescent moodiness. We begged, reasoned, punished, and left heartfelt notes on his bed about how his behavior was hurting our family. His response was a shrug and “I say it because it’s true”.
I even tried telling the girls to fight back. But it was a bad idea. Now I had three kids at war. At wit’s end, I poured my heart out to my sister in an e-mail. She wrote back, “Don’t e-mail me. E-mail him.”
Our son was online every day, mailing and instantly messaging his friends. So what if I was within shouting distance? Maybe he would actually hear me this way. There’d be no yelling or door slamming（猛然关闭）. Zack wouldn’t feel under attack. And with a few simple keystrokes, he could respond. Or not. Zack didn’t reply for days. When he finally did, his entire message was four words. I expected the worst, but then smiled when I read them, ”You are right. I’m sorry.” The kids still fought, of course, but Zack scaled back the abuse (恶习). Best of all, I now have an effective way to communicate with not one but three easily annoyed teens. They don’t tune me out as much. They don’t like to listen to me nag (唠叨) .Or as Alex says, “You’re so much nicer online.”
All I know is that the house is quiet, and we’re talking. In fact, Taryn just instantly messaged me from upstairs. It’s time to take her to softball practice.
小题1:The purpose of this passage is to tell us _________ .| A．how to solve family problems | | B．how a mother shows her love to her children | | C．how to treat kids in a more sensible way | | D．the value of understanding between parents and children |
小题2:By the first sentence of the passage, the author really means to be_______.| A．humourous | B．sympathetic | C．serious | D．inspiring |
小题3:How did Zack react when the author first tried to stop his bad behavior？| A．He was annoyed and got worse. | | B．He talked back to the author. | | C．He felt sorry and changed. | | D．He was persuaded and acted politely. |
小题4:Zack stopped fighting with his sisters because _________ .| A．his mother learned how to mail him | | B．his mother stopped yelling and nagging | | C．his sisters learned to instantly message him | | D．his mother had more friendly communications with him online |
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When Steve Jobs was born on Febuary24,1955, in San Francisco , California, his unmarried mother decided to put him for adoption because she wanted a girl. So in the middle of the night, his mother called a lawyer named Paul Jobs and said, “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” But his mother told his future parents to promise that they would send Jobs to college. After Steve Jobs graduated from high school, he went to college but decided to drop out because it was so expensive that he had to sleep on the floor in his friends’ rooms.
At 20, he and a friend(Steve Wozniak) started a company in a garage on April 1, 1976. Jobs named their company ----Apple in memory of a happy summer he had spent as an orchard (果园) in Oregon.
After 10 years of hard time and failures, starting from two kids working in a garage, Apple computer eventually grew into a big company with over 4000 employees.
At 30, Jobs , however, was fired from the company he co-founded. But after he had to leave the company, Apple was under heavy pressure from rival (对手) Microsoft and in 1996 posted billions of dollars in losses. Apple needed Steve Jobs and he was appointed as Apple’ CEO in1997. Under his leadership, Apple returned to profitability and introduced new products such as the iPod, the iPhone and the iPod.
Steve Jobs once said, “Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick, Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.
小题1:Which of the following is right according to paragraph 1?| A．Jobs’ unmarried mother adopted him. | | B．Paul Jobs was a college teacher. | | C．Jobs’ finished his education. | | D．Jobs’ unmarried mother wanted a girl. |
小题2:Steve Jobs didn’t finish his college education because he ______.| A．wanted to start a company. | | B．had financial problems. | | C．took no interest in his major. | | D．hated to share rooms with his friends. |
小题3:It can be inferred that Apple____.| A．was founded in Oregon | | B．developed from a garage | | C．had a difficult beginning | | D．had a successful beginning |
小题4:What can we learn from what Steve Jobs said?| A．Interest is key to success. | | B．Hope helps us succeed. | | C．Attitude is everything. | | D．Courage goes with confidence. |
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